


battlecry;

by jungnoir



Category: K-pop, NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Royalty, And then finally: Angst, Angst, F/M, Fairy Tale Elements, Knight Lee Jeno, More angst, Prince Na Jaemin, Sleeping Beauty Elements, Witch Curses, Witches, but oh boy are you in it for when you wake up, you're unconscious the majority of the fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-28
Updated: 2019-06-28
Packaged: 2020-05-28 08:06:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19389979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jungnoir/pseuds/jungnoir
Summary: ANONYMOUS:prince!jaemin confidently kisses his princess when she will only awaken with her one true love’s kiss. distraught, he kisses you again, and again, desperation seeping through when nothing happens and knight!jeno averts his gaze full of shame-summary:love is cruel, ignorance is bliss, and all good kings must learn this.





	battlecry;

**Author's Note:**

> prompt belongs to [markdaes](https://markdaes.tumblr.com/) on tumblr! [trashknj](https://trashknj.tumblr.com/) tagged me on [nctangst](https://nctangst.tumblr.com/)'s post about prince!jaemin where markdaes sent in the above prompt and asked if I could write it! I got really inspired by it so I decided to give it a shot! hope I could do it justice~ my heart hurts :)

The palace was the quietest it had ever been since the day you were poisoned.

What used to be a sanctuary for laughter and happiness was now like a tomb; its silent walls would close in on you in the long hallways, its cool breezes now felt like icy fingers gripping at any piece of exposed skin it could reach. Royals would have dinner in silence. Nobles would visit with the utmost sincerity in their hearts as they offered their condolences to the king and queen for their daughter. Servants would meet each other’s eyes with grim looks, the question on everyone’s lips but never uttered for fear of reprimanding: would the princess ever wake from this curse?

When the witch had struck you, you had dropped like a rock. Days had gone by since the angry sorceress burst through the crowd of adoring subjects who’d welcomed you into town that too-sunny Saturday, cursing you where you stood because “tyrants should never smile”. It was in the wake of a recent law passed to abolish black magic, and while you’d never had a hand in the commandments of your country, you were the one who suffered the price.

Morbidly, the subjects were at least happy you weren’t dead, but a dreamless, wakeless sleep didn’t sound much better. Your chest still rose and fell underneath the sheer white fabric adorning your chest and your eyelids would flutter every now and then, but never did they open. Your fingers might twitch or your body might shiver when the cold night air would rush in from your bedroom window, but you did not cuddle into your sheets for any warmth. Your blood ran warm underneath your skin, but you were as good as dead.

The ordeal had arisen during the week that Prince Jaemin had come to visit you.

Pen pals since youth, Jaemin was your best friend and, soon to be, husband. You had confided in him for everything from the start of your youth until the moment you’d become a true adult in the kingdom’s eyes, a shining eighteen years of age which meant that you were that much closer to ascending to queenhood. Jaemin, too, was also soon to become a king of the neighboring kingdom of Na, and your parents had found it fit to put you two together. The arrangement had been announced only a few weeks ago, but they’d apparently been planning it since your tweens. Jaemin had been excited after years of writing to you, waiting to see you again for the first time since you were just children, and the week had been planned to a T. You’d meant to show him around the kingdom, show him the best of the crown city, and it was that particular day that you had to cut into the tightly packed tour for a quick public appearance.

Had Jaemin known that that day you’d be cursed into an endless sleep, he would have gone with you.

It was no secret to anyone in the palace how much Jaemin hated that he had not been there to protect you. Even when you both were far apart, your letters to him about your hardships and the snooty royals that’d come to visit would always spur him into a very long and very cheesy rant about how he wished he could slay your dragons for you. He considered himself to be your knight in shining armor, and you had never really disagreed. Yet, even with all his passion, he knew deep down that he would not have been fast enough to intercept the curse on its way to you. Most nights though, he dreams that he could have been.

So he’d stayed longer, written countless letters to his parents about how he refused to leave your side until you were all better, and the monarchs of Na and your kingdom were more than understanding given the bond you both shared. He’d stay forever if it meant that you would never be without someone by your side. He insisted that it must be him, had to be him, because he loved you and you loved him, and if you love someone the way he loves you, you don’t leave them for anything.

The only other person who seemed to feel that as much as he was the stoic knight at your chamber’s doors, stiff as a board and adorned in the armor of the kingdom’s military. He was already a higher-up knight by the age of 15, fighting many battles in the name of the king with what the prince had heard was nearly godly strength and will. When you had gotten a little older, the king decided to assign his best and youngest knight to you in hopes that he would guard your life as well as he guarded the lives of his men on the battlefield, and do that he surely did.

After the first two days of sitting by your side, clutching your hand in his until the warmth shared between them caused his palm to perspire, he decided that he could not take the silence anymore. The sounds of your even breaths seemed to only drive him slowly insane, the prince practically waiting for the moment they might stop altogether. So he talked to the knight instead.

“Did you grow up here? In the crown city?” Jaemin asked the knight one day, fingers still wrapped around your own. It was a hot summer afternoon, that much he could tell from the heat of the sun beating on his back through the balcony.

The knight did not stir, nor made any move to remove his helmet. The blasted silver thing glared at Jaemin from across the room, the only barrier he had between him and the knight. You had written fondly (and in great detail) of the great knight Jeno’s personality many times in your letters to the prince, so he knew not to take it personally when Jeno didn’t answer right away. It had taken you two years to get him to fully open up to you, and even then, you still suffered from Jeno’s quiet nature.

With nothing to do but wait, Jaemin just continued to watch the knight. He used the silence to examine the knight from head to toe, from boot to helmet. He noticed the sword slashes on the metal that scarred what he knew was once crystal clear. Some were closer to his neck, others closer to his left arm where the armor stopped and a mesh covering allowed for better movement of his arms. He’d once been told by his father that a man without a few scars had not yet become a man. Jaemin was sure Jeno had plenty.

“No, your highness.” Jeno finally answers, voice intense and echoing in the metal confinement around his head. Jaemin perks up some; he hadn’t expected such an answer so quickly!

“A nearby town, then? I hear most people only come to the crown city to live a better life. It is rather beautiful here after all, a city by the sea.” Jaemin hums fondly. You both were supposed to go to the beach on the weekend of his visit, right before he was set to return home for further kingly preparations.

Jeno doesn’t move still, but a hum mirrors the prince’s in the hushed room and it is nice. “Not nearby, your highness. I traveled quite a way to be here, but you are right about the last part. I came here for a better life. For my family, too.”

The prince’s chest swells with a sweet feeling; a boy as young as he turning to the crown city in order to make a better life for himself and family was not new under the sun, but he still rather admired those who did it. He knew that if he wasn’t born into such fortunate circumstances, he’d be willing to do the same in a heartbeat. 

“I wonder,” Jaemin starts, wistful as he turns his gaze back to your peacefully sleeping face, “if in another world, I was like you. Perhaps, if in that world (Y/N) was still a princess, I would have been able to make it to her like this. Like you.”

Jeno somehow stiffens even more at this. Jaemin doesn’t notice, “Would we still have fallen in love? I’m certain we would have.” Affectionately, Jaemin reaches to cradle your face as a sick feeling begins to settle in Jeno’s stomach. The prince had no idea. “She has that kind of heart. She would fall in love with someone no matter their status, because she’s just that way.” The prince had _no_ idea.

Jaemin smiles, lost in his own world as if Jeno wasn’t even there. It’s just you and the prince as far as he’s concerned, and he’s just dreaming of the day the court mage finds a way to wake you. He knows you’ll be waiting for him as he has waited for you. “I must sound so childish and naive,” Jaemin directs this to Jeno without looking away from your shut eyes, “but I know there’s nothing in this world or the next that could separate us. It just feels destined. Nothing could destroy destiny.”

The knight is happy he isn’t expected to reply, and that is maybe the last time he gets that feeling. _The prince had no idea._

* * *

The conversations grow each day.

Jaemin would either wake from beside you because he’d fallen asleep next to you, or he’d be rushing from the royal guest’s quarters at the crack of dawn to your bedroom doors. He would always tell Jeno that when he was there, the knight could rest easy outside the room. It was really his way to talk to you aloud, attempting to coax you from your sleep as the court mage worked away on figuring out how to wake you. Since the ban on black magic, many of the mage’s dabbling in the arts had to be halted unless absolutely necessary, and this situation was deemed absolutely necessary. The court mage mainly worked with health and protection potions for everyday afflictions, so this meant that it would take a little longer for him to summon the right counter to a curse and make sure it worked on you. It didn’t matter to Jaemin or the king what it took, so long as you were awake and smiling again.

Until then, Jaemin was content with talking to you. He would recall times you’d spent together as children on holidays or brief visits, or he’d discuss some of the events you both chronicled in your letters to each other. Each conversation would end with a solemn “I love you”, each word dripping in sincerity. He’d been saying it to you as much as he was physically able to ever since he’d found out you were both to be engaged. He hadn’t rushed you to say it back of course, the king and queen assuring him that his feelings were most certainly reciprocated. They’d told him how shocked from excitement you’d been to hear the news, and Jaemin had felt like he was on cloud nine. You had never been so bashful with him in his whole life until that point, but he assumed that it was because you two had never really addressed the possibility of being something more than friends before… it was new territory. He understood that much.

Jaemin tried not to bore Jeno with countless questions about you (or even more specifically, questions about how _you_ felt about _him_ ), but sometimes he just couldn’t help it. Like now.

“Did she talk about me a lot to you?” Jaemin asks over his dinner. The prince rarely spent time away from your room, even to eat, so the maids would bring him something up each evening. Sometimes, he’d wave a bit of your favorite foods in front of your nose teasingly, wondering if that might wake you. It never seemed to stop you from snapping to attention before.

It had been a week since the first conversation with Jeno and since then, Jaemin had requested of Jeno to not wear his helmet. He had hoped that without the obstruction, he’d be able to get more comfortable with the knight, but even without it the knight was as motionless as ever. Lips tightly pursed, eyes always facing forward, brows even. It was Jaemin’s goal to get the knight you cared for so much to like him. After all, he’d be seeing a lot more of him in the future.

Jeno takes his time to answer as always, thankfully never leaving Jaemin hanging, “A bit, your highness. She described you as her best friend.”

Jaemin blushes, looking down at his food. “Is that… so? I always wondered if maybe she’d make a closer friend here. I guess that spot was reserved for me. What else did she say about me?”

“That you were easily excitable, your highness.”

“Eh?!” Jaemin screeches. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

While others might have flinched away at Jaemin’s tone, maybe afraid they’d offended the prince in some way, Jeno does nothing of the sort because he knows it’s harmless. He continues to stand tall, though his eyes glide to Jaemin for one of the few times the prince had caught him doing so, “I assumed it was due to your childlike nature, your highness. I’m sure she didn’t mean it in a bad way.”

Still, Jaemin pouts. “I’m… I’m not easy.”

Jeno looks away from him just as slowly as he looked to him, “Of course not, your highness.”

“Hey,” Jaemin lightly scolds, “you don’t sound too convinced!”

The knight’s lip quirks up a bit and Jaemin really can’t believe it. Was… was the stoic knight really smiling right now? Had he really just made Jeno smile? “I’m sorry, your highness. The princess’s sentiments of you have left an impression.”

Jaemin huffs, though he’s happy that there seems to be a more comfortable air in the room now. Even if it was the smallest twitch in the lip, Jaemin counts Jeno’s smile as a success through and through. The pout leaves the prince’s lips finally, changing the subject, “Well, when she wakes, we’ll have to have a discussion about that. She can’t ruin my charming reputation without my consent.”

Again, Jaemin is surprised when Jeno makes a small sound. Almost like a… chuckle. Just barely there, his ears would have lost the sound to the wind had it not been such a soundless night. Jaemin laughs a little on his own, too, delighted. “Of course, your highness. Though I cannot promise her willingness to change her ways, I’m sure you’ll make a good effort.”

The prince shakes his head goodnaturedly, taking a sip from his chalice as he throws a glance your way. It feels odd to have you here but not have you _really_ here, the prince thinks. How he wished you would wake and add to the conversation, but no such thing would happen just based off of intention alone. The court mage was getting close to exposing the counter to your curse, so he just had to wait a little longer. Imagine how thrilled you’d be when you found out that he and Jeno were getting along! Even being friends! He could see the pleased smile on your face as clear as day, as if you were really smiling at him inches from his face. He sighs contentedly.

Jaemin decides he’ll spend tonight talking to you again, but he won’t tell Jeno to leave the room this time. He doesn’t feel the need to be private in front of him right now, and if he can help it, the bond between the two of them might grow stronger just by listening to the adventures you both shared in your youth. “Thank you for talking to me again today, Jeno. I can see why she cares for you so much.”

Jeno had feared this before when he’d taken off his mask for the first time. He’d been able to keep himself emotionless in the face of the prince on several other occasions, but he isn’t sure he can hide the way his face falls at the thought. A swirling pit of guilt has begun to accumulate in his gut and has yet to disappear since the prince had gotten here. It had been so much easier before he’d actually met the prince to see him as some kind of battle, like the ones he used to face in his younger days. This wedding was your battle to fight, and Jeno would be guarding you every step of the way. Sympathizing with the very cause of his grief was the last thing he needed. Yet, here he stands, joking and laughing with the prince as if he isn’t the reason why Jeno’s nightmares are all of your wedding day, marrying someone that isn’t him while he fades into the background.

It had barely felt like a day had passed since you both last professed your love to each other, since your only concerns were bringing up the relationship between you both to your parents. His biggest fear was that the king and queen would not allow him to court you, to one day marry you if you so wished. Yet now, his biggest fear was that that chance to tell them would never even come, and you would fall for your best friend, the prince, who seemed to know you much better than Jeno did. With time, your feelings for the knight would disappear, and Jeno would watch it all with a heart that would never repair itself.

And here this very prince was, _thanking_ him. Thanking him for comforting him while the love of both of their lives lay unconscious mere feet away. It was sick. Though the witch had probably meant for the curse to hurt no one but you, the king, and the queen, they had seriously miscalculated the ripples this would have on everyone around you. Jeno knew the way the guilt ate at you tenfold, forcing yourself to lie to Jaemin about your “feelings” in order to not hurt him with the truth just yet. You were cornered with nowhere else to go and Jeno could do nothing but watch. Sadly, maybe you were at least at peace in this sleep, free from the clutches of heartache in your chest.

Jaemin thinks that Jeno is just taking his usual time with replying, unknowing of the turmoil that festers behind the knight’s quickly rebuilt facade, “Of course… your highness.”

* * *

Three weeks have passed since the curse and Jeno and Jaemin are what Jaemin considers “friends”. Their conversations are considerably longer, and this leads to Jaemin convincing Jeno to leave your room every once in a while for a change of venue. Usually, Jeno would protest to leaving you alone anywhere, but the other knights standing guard at your door promise that they would alert both the prince and Jeno of any changes in your condition if something happened. After a few trips around the palace, Jeno wasn’t as averse to the idea anymore. They’d even managed to make it outside more than a few times.

Their walks were usually full of talking (mainly on Jaemins’s side). Jeno had ended up showing Jaemin parts of the palace that you hadn’t yet gotten to show him, deciding you wouldn’t mind too much if he got used to his surroundings while you were still under the spell. Jaemin had never been the type to just sit still for a long time either, though the sadness and concern he had for you had cemented him to your side without a thought about it for nearly a month. Sometimes, they’d walk through the gardens and Jaemin would tell him about the flora back home. Sometimes, Jeno would request a special lunch for the two of them out near the lake. Sometimes, they’d just circle the grand hall and talk.

It was unusual for Jeno to be so close to a royal like you until he realized he fell for you and you him. This, however, was different. He could not readily consider Jaemin a friend, especially when the truth had not yet been revealed to the other, but he still felt… friendly. He had meant to stay as impartial to the prince as possible, an attempt to keep his soft heart from caving in on itself at the thought of ever telling him the truth about you and him. He believed that with as little attachment to him as possible, even possibly looking at all of Jaemin’s flaws alone to help him, he could feel less terrible for this setup.

But he still finds himself caring for the young prince anyway, and he wishes selfishly that you’d awaken because he isn’t sure he can do this without you.

According to the mage, the curse that had been used on you was emotion based. There was no amount of herbal medicine that could bring you back from this sleep, but they weren’t totally sure what was needed to jolt you awake. In some cases, a curse like this would be fixed with some kind of internal shock, some interruption of dreams, something that your soul would feel rather than your body. Knowing your waking was so close was happy and terrifying for Jeno; there was so much you hadn’t gotten to talk about since the announcement, and there was so much that _needed_ to be talked about that Jeno had a hard time keeping mental purchase of them all.

Today, he can let himself forget some of them as he and Jaemin watch the sea from the highest tower in the palace. The salty air is refreshing to Jaemin, a prince from a kingdom that is surrounded by dense forests and rain rather than ocean water. “Jeno, do you get to visit the beach often?” Jaemin asks.

Jeno stands beside the prince whose arms are folded on the stone ledge, eyes squinted at the early evening sunlight streaking the blue water with ripples of white. Until Jaemin, he had never walked around for this long without his helmet on. It wasn’t necessary for him to do so inside the palace, rather just a habit of his from his battle days, but it also gave him the impassive and intimidating aura that kept people from messing with you (if they ever so thought to). He’d begun to dress down too, another thing he wasn’t so used to. Instead of his bulky armor, he adorned some of the less restrictive clothing for moving around on the palace grounds. It made him more approachable, much to his confusion. All Jaemin’s idea.

“No…” Jeno pauses, attempting to adjust to dropping the formal “your highness” when no one else was around, “I’ve been once or twice, but not for fun.”

Jaemin frowns, casting a glance at Jeno over his shoulder, “That should be a crime. You can’t live here and not get to visit the beach every weekend!”

Jeno scoffs, amused, “Have you ever thought that maybe I don’t want to go to the beach?”

Jaemin turns up his nose and shuffles a bit on his feet, “Well… I don’t know. You don’t?”

“It’s not that I don’t want to, I just… have no reason to. I don’t have anyone to go with.” Jeno admits. He doesn’t add the last bit about how the one person he’d want to go with could never.

He doesn’t have to, it seems, as Jaemin does it for him, “I’m sure (Y/N) would love to go with you. You know, as a friendly day out. If only this whole class system wasn’t so royally unfair, you two could go and no one would haggle you about it.”

Oh, how Jeno had daydreamed about just that for so long. If only Jaemin knew. Jeno could only respond with his best response to things like that, “Maybe in another life, but not this one.”

Jaemin flips around so that he’s facing Jeno with his back turned to the sea, his elbows propped up on the ledge now. He is squinting too, but not from the sunlight, that’s for sure. “You shouldn’t be so cynical, Jeno. I promise that one day in the future, me, (Y/N), you, and someone special will go out to the beach late one night without anyone finding out to just be free. By then, I will have appointed you to nobility, had your family moved out here to live with you in a villa on a nearby island, and gotten you acquainted with a charmer of your choice. You’ll be living the life, Jeno.”

Jeno blinks at the absurdity of Jaemin’s claims, “I-I never agreed to any of that. And you should be glad no one higher-up is around to hear you speaking like that.”

Jaemin just rolls his eyes and kicks his foot out, back and forth, “Don’t you think it’s nice, though? I know I’ve only known you for so long, but I can really see how much you care about (Y/N). And, since we’re getting married, we’re going to be spending a lot of time together. I don’t want you to feel like you’re lesser than us, Jeno. You should be able to be comfortable around us and your family deserves to see you more than just once a year. Wouldn’t you like that?”

Jeno can clearly see the heart in Jaemin’s words, even as his own clenches at them. The truth is obvious to himself of course: he wouldn’t like that, not all of it anyway. He’d rather stay the way he is now, several ranks below you, untouchable, than to ever feel like he had even the inkling of a chance of being with you the way he wants to. With Jaemin in the picture, it’s the best choice anyway. Jaemin can’t see that though, should never have to, because Jaemin has done nothing but be kind to Jeno this whole time. Jaemin has done nothing but embrace him like a friend, and Jeno… Jeno just can’t. It just cannot be their truth. Jeno knows he will never be happy unless it’s at the expense of Jaemin’s happiness, and that is now far too taxing of a reality to bear.

Jeno doesn’t get to answer him, probably wouldn’t have been able to anyway, because the sound of rushing steps up the tower’s stairs catch them both off guard. Moments after the source of the steps reaches the doorway to the octagonal room, sweat is coating the face of the servant who’d sprinted to find them. She tries to catch her breath as Jaemin straightens up to address her, “Are you okay? What’s the rush?”

The servant bows quickly toward the foreign prince, “My apologies your highness, I did not mean to interrupt your conversation with Sir Jeno, but I have important news. Princess (Y/N)’s curse has been solved: we know what will wake her.”

Jaemin and Jeno both stand to attention, eyes darting to each other and then back to the panting servant. “Really?” Jeno rasps, urgency bleeding through his tone like a gushing river, “What is it? What will wake her?”

The servant draws in a heavy breath and even dares to crack a smile, eyes locked solely on Jaemin as she answers, “The princess’s curse will break upon the kiss of her true love’s lips.”

* * *

Jaemin runs faster than he ever has before. He’s not even sure Jeno is behind him when he thrusts himself through your double doors, a triumphant smile on his face when his eyes fall upon your figure. The king, queen, court mage, and a few servants stand around you all awaiting his arrival. The minute he makes his grand entrance, the smiles that beam at him practically light up the room.

The king is joyous as he welcomes the prince, “My son!” He calls heartily. A stab to Jeno’s heart as he enters a few moments later. “Quickly, quickly. You must awaken her.”

Jaemin’s ears go a little red at the prospect of sharing his first kiss with you like this, in front of all these people, but he knows that it is to save you and bring you back from this curse. He’d do anything to hear your voice again. Meanwhile, Jeno can only stand a few feet away in a disassociated stance. He doesn’t want to believe he’s experiencing this right now. He wishes that he could be anyone else.

“My stars, my stars,” Jaemin whispers adoringly as he collapses beside your body. You still look serene, and he can’t wait to see your eyes opening to look at him. _Him, him, him_. His favorite thing is to be seen by you. Your eyes dancing with warmth in them when you’d greeted him the day he got here had been playing in his mind on repeat for the last three weeks, and now… now, you were going to be awoken by true love’s kiss. _His_ kiss. “Oh my stars, forgive me that this is our first kiss. Please wake and I’ll make it up to you.” Jaemin clutches your hand in his and squeezes it tight, imagining that you’ll squeeze it back. You don’t, but it won’t be like that for long.

Unable to contain his excitement, Jaemin looks to Jeno before he swoops in, smile not wide enough to even try to show the extent of his excitement. His eyes lock with the knight’s, but Jeno looks like he’s seen a ghost. It almost stops Jaemin in his tracks, almost. His excitement gets the best of him as he tries to remind himself that Jeno may just be overwhelmed; the entire room is overflowing with expectation and if it wasn’t the adrenaline Jaemin was being fueled by, he might be shaking at the thought of kissing you awake. Right now though, he has no time to worry about Jeno’s reaction. He’s far too focused on you.

He takes your face between his hands and sighs at your beauty, before letting himself descend delicately. He whispers sweet nothings to you as he leans down, lips inches to centimeters apart. His lips are dry from gnawing on them incessantly and he scolds himself for not being prepared to give you a pleasant kiss, but he hopes you won’t mind.

Finally, he meets your mouth.

It’s his first time kissing you and he can feel sparks exploding in his chest. There’s a party going on beneath his ribcage, or maybe that’s just the rapid beating of his heart. This is everything he wanted and more and he’s so, so nervous. He can’t pick up on anything but the pounding in his ears and the pressure of lips he’s waiting for to meet his own. He’s waiting. He’s waiting.

He’s waiting.

He’s… waiting.

Jaemin pulls back some, still holding your face. You don’t wake. He leans down to kiss you again, this time quicker and a little more sober, but when he pulls back yet again, you are still asleep. His eyes, in his desperation, flicker to the court mage who looks as dumbfounded as he and the rest of the room. One kiss, one small kiss from your true love was supposed to wake you from your slumber without a doubt. It’s what his Book of Shadows had told him, what he knew to be true from tales long past, so it should have worked. Jaemin had done everything perfectly, after all. 

The prince releases your cheeks and stares at your face. You’re motionless, just like you’d been for the last three weeks. His kiss… had done nothing.

So, he wasn’t…

The queen gasps when it clicks. Jaemin goes still when something entirely different clicks for him.

It should have been clear before.

Jeno is avoiding his eyes but there are tears staining his cheeks already. His lips are shaking like he’s going to full on bawl in a moment. No matter how hard Jaemin stares at him, Jeno won’t look. He can’t. He mustn’t. If he did, he might not be able to bear it.

Jeno should be happy with all other things isolated; Jaemin is not your true love, and any doubts he had that you might have unexplored feelings for the prince are crushed at the same time that he realizes what this means. There is no one else you are as close to as you are with Jaemin… except him.

He is always with you, always by your side, your confidant when writing a letter will take too long. Jaemin may have known you longer, but contrary to Jeno’s beliefs, he didn’t know you better. Jeno had seen more of the you that you are now than Jaemin had, and that meant something. Something terrible, something wonderful… depending on how you looked at it.

And Jeno knew the whole time, the prince realizes. He didn’t tell him.

“…so… you wouldn’t have liked that, then.” Jaemin whispers, and nobody but Jeno knows to what that he’s referencing.

“I’m so- so sorry.” Jeno’s voice cracks, full of more emotion than he’d ever shown the prince since they’d met. He can’t stop crying as he feels the world crumble about him. He knows what he should do next, but he never imagined that his feelings would be exposed this way. Never would have wished for it.

Jaemin is suppressing a sob because he knows that that’s what kings do. He couldn’t cry now. What would that make him look like? A babbling child in front of the people of the kingdom he was hoping to rule one day by your side? He could never. He should never… but he is mourning inside.

The prince stands with every pair of eyes on him except that of the knight’s. You lay still, unaware. At that moment, everyone wishes they could be you (Jaemin the most). He takes in a heavy breath, centering himself like his father had taught him to do when faced with a situation that he was unsure of. He breathes in, and out, eyes shut to block out the vision of Jeno sniveling a few feet away, though the sound is loud and clear in the dead silent room. He has to get this over with, and it’s now or never. No matter how badly he wanted it to be him, it wasn’t. He hates that it’s Jeno. But…

Jaemin steps away from you with a heavy heart, holding out a hand to motion to you. Jeno looks from the prince’s hand to you, then to the prince’s detached expression. “Then you must wake her, Jeno. Please.”

“…O-of course, your highness.”


End file.
